perhaps means testing in some of those mandatory cuts. maybe form subsidies, but this is where the give and take will occur. boehner and obama have met before. the summer of 2011. they put a lot of specifics on paper. when boehner coudn g backing from his conference. >> how close is this toth i didn't see this in advance. this was reallyop b. th tn goatn.3 > dl nde. s >> there has been progress. >> right now i would say we're nowhere.3 irey ssisc. paul begala, david frum, former adviser to president george w. bush. gentlemen, nice to have you both. david, let's start with you. depending on who you listen to, it's either going great or not going well at all. they're either optimistic or completely pessimistic. which is it? >> i feel about this whole process as a basketball nonfan, i feel about basketball, which is start it 100-100 and play for five minutes to get it over with. but i think we also need to take a step back and realize just how lunatic this whole process is. what the united states does not need right now is either spending cu